THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 22, 1996 TAG: 9608220415
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: NEWPORT NEWS DAILY PRESS
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: 28 lines
Christopher Newport University's new performing arts center will be designed by the world-class architectural firm founded by I.M. Pei.
The New York firm, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, was selected from six finalists by a CNU search committee. The group's high-profile projects include the Holocaust Museum and the East Building of the National Gallery in Washington, expansion of the Louvre museum in Paris and the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas.
CNU President Paul S. Trible Jr. said Wednesday he wants the first performance in the concert hall-theater complex to take place Dec. 31, 1999.
A feasibility study will be ready in two months, he said, with architectural drawings and a scale model due in February. The cost for this phase will be $365,635, said Trible, which will be paid out of $650,000 in start-up money committed by the Newport News City Council.
The project is expected to go to bid in January 1998, followed by a 20-month construction period. The center will be located on the former Ferguson High School property near the entrance to the Mariners' Museum.
The Pei firm will work with several nationally known consultants in assembling the project. by CNB